Expandable clothing hanger

ABSTRACT

An expandable garment hanger assembly has a central frame and housing assembly. An arm pair assembly with a right and left side arm portion is pivotally coupled to an interior portion of the frame and housing assembly and designed to be folded or laterally extended. The right and left side arm portions are rotatably engaged to move rotationally and simultaneously in the opposite direction. A release spring and lock assembly is disposed within the frame and housing assembly and designed to be locked when the arm pair assembly is closed. At least one depressible release assembly is coupled to the spring and lock assembly designed to release the spring and lock assembly to extend the right and left side arm portions. A right and left side arm extender portion is slidably coupled to the distal ends of the right and left side arms respectively and designed to extend or retract.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisionalapplication with Ser. No. 63/054,784, filed on Jul. 21, 2020, with thesame title, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The inventive concept relates generally to an expandable clothinghanger.

BACKGROUND

Currently, there are a number of solutions for hanging clothes. One ofthese solutions attempts to use a standard hanger, but this solutionfails to meet the needs of the market because standard hangers cannotexpand. Another solution attempts to use hooks, but this solution issimilarly unable to meet the needs of the market because hangers cannothold many garments. Still another solution seeks to use a clothing rack,but this solution also fails to meet market needs because clothing racksoccupy a lot of space. Also, with a traditional hanger, forcefullypushing the hanger through a shirt can ruin a collar. Unbuttoningclothes to hang them or inserting the hanger from under the garment canbe tedious. Therefore, there currently exists a need in the market foran expandable garment hanger assembly that hangs clothing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An expandable garment hanger assembly has a central frame and housingassembly. An arm pair assembly with a right side arm portion and a leftside arm portion is pivotally coupled to an interior portion of thecentral frame and housing assembly at a proximal end portion of theright side arm portion and a proximal end portion of the left side armportion, the arm pair assembly designed to be in a folded and parallelstate or a laterally extended state. The right side arm portion and theleft side arm portion are rotatably engaged to move rotationally andsimultaneously in the opposite direction. A release spring and lockassembly is disposed within the central frame and housing assembly andcoupled to the proximal end of the right side arm portion and theproximal end of the left side arm portion, the spring and lock assemblydesigned to be releasably locked when the arm pair assembly is in aclosed state. At least one depressible release assembly is coupled tothe spring and lock assembly and disposed substantially through a distalface or a proximal face of the central frame and housing assembly, thedepressible release assembly designed to release the spring and lockassembly, allowing a spring assembly of the spring and lock assembly tolaterally and simultaneously extend the right side arm portion and theleft side arm portion. A right side arm extender portion is slidablycoupled to a distal end portion of the right side arm portion, and aleft side arm extender portion is slidably coupled to a distal endportion of a left side arm portion, the right side arm extender portionand the left side arm extender portion designed to be in an extended orretracted state.

In one embodiment of the expandable garment hanger assembly, a rotatablehook assembly is coupled to the central frame and housing assembly andis designed to suspend from a bar or other substantially rigid surface.

In one embodiment of the expandable garment hanger assembly, a secondlock assembly is disposed within the central frame and housing assemblyand is designed to releasably lock the arm pair assembly into anextended state.

In one embodiment of the expandable garment hanger assembly, the rightside extender portion is disposed at least partially inside a rightsleeve portion of the distal end of the right side arm portion and theleft side extender portion is disposed at least partially inside a leftsleeve portion of the distal end of the left side arm portion.

In one embodiment of the expandable garment hanger assembly, a right gapportion is disposed between a distal end of the right side extenderportion and the distal end of the right side arm portion when the rightside extender portion is at least partially extended, and a left gapportion is disposed between a distal end of the left side extenderportion and the distal end of the left side arm portion when the leftside extender portion is at least partially extended, the right gapportion and the left gap portion designed to keep garment straps fromslipping off the arm pair assembly.

In one embodiment of the expandable garment hanger assembly, a polymergrip portion is planarly disposed on a top surface of the arm pairassembly. This grip portion may also be a fabric.

It would be advantageous to have an expandable garment hanger assemblythat is collapsible. Furthermore, it would be advantageous to have anexpandable garment hanger assembly that is expandable. Still further, itwould be advantageous to have an expandable garment hanger assembly thatis reusable.

The inventive concept advantageously fills the aforementioneddeficiencies by providing an expandable clothing hanger, which providesan easier way to hang clothing. Clothing is also termed as garments.

The expandable garment hanger assembly may have a 360-degree rotatingswivel hook assembly.

The expandable garment hanger assembly may have a release button and maybe available in many colors.

The expandable garment hanger assembly may fulfill the need forextension arm indents.

Among other things, it is an advantage of the inventive concept toprovide an expandable clothing hanger that does not suffer from problemsor deficiencies associated with prior solutions.

It is still further an advantage of the inventive concept to becollapsible.

Still further, the expandable garment hanger assembly has non-slipfabric arms.

The inventive concept now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, which are intended to be read inconjunction with both this summary, the detailed description and anypreferred and/or particular embodiments specifically discussed orotherwise disclosed. This inventive concept may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided byway of illustration only, and so that this disclosure will be thorough,complete, and will fully convey the full scope of the inventive conceptto those skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates the perspective view of the closed version of theexpandable garment hanger assembly.

FIG. 2 illustrates the front of the closed version of the expandablegarment hanger assembly.

FIG. 3 illustrates the extended view of the closed version of theexpandable garment hanger assembly.

FIG. 4 illustrates the left side of the closed version of the expandablegarment hanger assembly.

FIG. 5 illustrates the back of the closed version of the expandablegarment hanger assembly.

FIG. 6 illustrates the right side of the closed version of theexpandable garment hanger assembly.

FIG. 7 illustrates the perspective view of the expanded version of theexpandable garment hanger assembly.

FIG. 8 illustrates the extended view of the expanded version of theexpandable garment hanger assembly.

FIG. 9 illustrates the front view of the expanded version of theexpandable garment hanger assembly.

FIG. 10 illustrates the left side of the expanded version of theexpandable garment hanger assembly.

FIG. 11 illustrates the extended back view of the expanded version ofthe expandable garment hanger assembly.

FIG. 12A-12B illustrate a method of using an expandable garment hangerassembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Following are more detailed descriptions of various related conceptsrelated to, and embodiments of, methods and apparatus according to thepresent disclosure. It should be appreciated that various aspects of thesubject matter introduced above and discussed in greater detail belowmay be implemented in any of numerous ways, as the subject matter is notlimited to any particular manner of implementation. Examples of specificimplementations and applications are provided primarily for illustrativepurposes.

Referring to the Figures, FIGS. 1-11 illustrate one embodiment of theinventive concept. In this embodiment, an expandable garment hangerassembly 100 has a central frame and housing assembly 200 and may have arounded top end 202 and a rounded bottom end 203. An arm pair assembly300 with a right side arm portion 320 and a left side arm portion 380 ispivotally coupled to an interior portion 201 of the central frame andhousing assembly 200 at a proximal end portion of the right side armportion 312 and a proximal end portion of the left side arm portion 318,the arm pair assembly 300 designed to be in a folded and parallel stateor a laterally extended state. A distal end of the right side arm 361and a distal end of the left side arm 369 may be rounded and designed toparallelly abut when the right arm assembly 320 and the left armassembly 380 are in a folded state, when abutted to form a substantiallyU shape, adapting the central frame and housing assembly 200 to bepacked without entangling adjacent garment members. The right side armportion 320 and the left side arm portion 380 are rotatably engaged tomove rotationally and simultaneously in the opposite direction to beparallelly set or set at obtuse angles.

A release spring and lock assembly exemplary embodiment 400, asillustrated in FIG. 7, is disposed within the central frame and housingassembly 200 and coupled to the proximal end of the right side armportion 312 and the proximal end of the left side arm portion 318, thespring and lock assembly 400 designed to be releasably locked when thearm pair assembly 200 is in a closed state. At least one rounded anddepressible release assembly 250 is coupled to the spring and lockassembly 400 and disposed substantially through a proximal face 210 ofthe central frame and housing assembly 200, the depressible releaseassembly 250 designed to release the spring and lock assembly 400,allowing a spring assembly exemplary embodiment 401, as illustrated byFIG. 7, of the spring and lock assembly 400 to laterally andsimultaneously extend the right side arm portion 320 and the left sidearm portion 380. A right side arm extender portion 321 is slidablycoupled to a distal end portion of the right side arm portion 392, and aleft side arm extender portion 381 is slidably coupled to a distal endportion of a left side arm portion 398, the right side arm extenderportion 321 and the left side arm extender portion 381 designed to be inan extended or retracted state and forming an obtuse angle.

FIGS. 1-11 further illustrate that in this embodiment of the expandablegarment hanger assembly, a rotatable hook assembly 500 is coupled to thecentral frame and housing assembly 200 and is designed to suspend from abar or other substantially rigid surface. In this embodiment of theexpandable garment hanger assembly, a second lock assembly 404, anexample embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, is disposed within the centralframe and housing assembly 200 and is designed to releasably lock thearm pair assembly 300 into an extended state.

FIGS. 1-11 further illustrate that in this embodiment of the expandablegarment hanger assembly, the right side arm extender portion 321 isdisposed at least partially inside a right sleeve portion 323 of thedistal end of the right side arm portion 392 and the left side extenderportion 381 is disposed at least partially inside a left sleeve portion383 of the distal end of the left side arm portion 398.

FIGS. 1-11 further illustrate that in this embodiment of the expandablegarment hanger assembly, a right gap portion 325 is disposed between adistal end of the right side extender portion 329 and the distal end ofthe right side arm portion 392 when the right side extender portion 329is at least partially extended, and a left gap portion 385 is disposedbetween a distal end of the left side extender portion 389 and thedistal end of the left side arm portion 398 when the left side extenderportion is at least partially extended, the right gap portion 325 andthe left gap portion 385 designed to keep garment straps from slippingoff the arm pair assembly 300 and are secured via a friction fit.

FIGS. 1-11 further illustrate that in this embodiment of the expandablegarment hanger assembly, a fabric grip portion 550, is planarly disposedon a top surface of the arm pair assembly 301. Alternatively, a polymergrip portion 552, illustrated in FIG. 6, may be planarly disposed on thetop surface of the arm pair assembly 301. In these embodiments of theexpandable garment hanger assembly, the central frame and housingassembly 200 and the arm pair assembly 300 are made substantially fromone of a group of: wood, plastic, and aluminum.

FIG. 12A-12B illustrate a method of using the expandable garment hangerassembly, the method including the step of 700 at least partiallyinserting the central frame and housing assembly 200 in a folded state,with the right side arm portion 320 and the left side arm portion 380substantially parallel, into an open portion of a garment member, theright side arm portion 320 and the left side arm portion 380 extendingfrom the bottom end of the housing assembly 203 and through the openportion of the garment member, the rotatable hook portion 500substantially outside the open portion of the garment member. The methodfurther includes the step of 710 depressing the release spring and lockassembly 400 disposed within the central frame and housing assembly 200and coupled to the proximal end of the right side arm portion 312 andthe proximal end of the left side arm portion 318, the spring and lockassembly 400 designed to be releasably locked when the arm pair assembly300 is in a closed state and unlocked when depressed. The method furtherincludes the step of 715 facilitating the right side arm portion 320 andthe left side arm portion 380 simultaneously rotating in the oppositedirections to a fully opened state within the open portion of thegarment member and against an inside surface of the garment member. Themethod further includes the step of 720 engaging the spring and lockassembly 400 to hold extended the right side arm portion 320 and theleft side arm portion 380. The method further includes the step of 730slidably coupling as needed the right side arm extender portion 321slidably coupled to the distal end portion of the right side arm portion392, and the left side arm extender portion 381 slidably coupled to thedistal end portion of the left side arm portion 398, the right side armextender portion 321 and the left side arm extender portion 381 designedto be in an extended or retracted state.

FIGS. 12A-12B further illustrate that the method of using the expandablegarment hanger assembly may further include the step of 740 includingsuspending from a bar or other substantially rigid surface the centralframe and housing assembly 200 via the rotatable hook assembly 500coupled to the central frame and housing assembly 200. The method ofusing the expandable garment hanger may further include the step of 750engaging the second lock assembly 404 disposed within the central frameand housing assembly 200 and designed to releasably lock the arm pairassembly 300 into an extended state. The method of using the expandablegarment hanger assembly may further include the step of 760 sliding theright side extender portion 321 disposed at least partially inside theright sleeve portion 323 of the distal end of the right side arm portion361 and sliding the left side extender portion 381 disposed at leastpartially inside the left sleeve portion 383 of the distal end of theleft side arm portion 381.

The following patents are incorporated by reference in their entireties:U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,177,106, 9,247,838, and 10,085,578.

While the inventive concept has been described above in terms ofspecific embodiments, it is to be understood that the inventive conceptis not limited to these disclosed embodiments. Upon reading theteachings of this disclosure many modifications and other embodiments ofthe inventive concept will come to mind of those skilled in the art towhich this inventive concept pertains, and which are intended to be andare covered by both this disclosure and the appended claims. It isindeed intended that the scope of the inventive concept should bedetermined by proper interpretation and construction of the appendedclaims and their legal equivalents, as understood by those of skill inthe art relying upon the disclosure in this specification and theattached drawings.

1. An expandable garment hanger assembly comprising: a central frame andhousing assembly; an arm pair assembly with a right side arm portion anda left side arm portion pivotally coupled to an interior portion of thecentral frame and housing assembly at a proximal end portion of theright side arm portion and a proximal end portion of the left side armportion, the arm pair assembly adapted to be in a folded andsubstantially parallel state or a laterally extended state, wherein theright side arm portion and the left side arm portion rotatably engagedto move rotationally and simultaneously in the opposite direction; arelease spring and lock assembly disposed within the central frame andhousing assembly and coupled to the proximal end of the right side armportion and the proximal end of the left side arm portion, the springand lock assembly adapted to be releasably locked when the arm pairassembly is in a closed state; at least one depressible release assemblycoupled to the spring and lock assembly and disposed substantiallythrough a distal face or a proximal face of the central frame andhousing assembly, the depressible release assembly adapted to releasethe spring and lock assembly allowing a spring assembly or member of thespring and lock assembly to laterally and simultaneously extend theright side arm portion and the left side arm portion; and a right sidearm extender portion slidably coupled to a distal end portion of theright side arm portion, and a left side arm extender portion slidablycoupled to a distal end portion of a left side arm portion, the rightside arm extender portion and the left side arm extender portion adaptedto be in an extended or retracted state.
 2. The expandable garmenthanger assembly of claim 1 wherein a rotatable hook assembly is coupledto the central frame and housing assembly and adapted to suspend from abar or other substantially rigid surface.
 3. The expandable garmenthanger assembly of claim 1 wherein a second lock assembly is disposedwithin the central frame and housing assembly and adapted to releasablylock the arm pair assembly into an extended state.
 4. The expandablegarment hanger assembly of claim 1 wherein the right side extenderportion is disposed at least partially inside a right sleeve portion ofthe distal end of the right side arm portion and the left side extenderportion is disposed at least partially inside a left sleeve portion ofthe distal end of the left side arm portion.
 5. The expandable garmenthanger assembly of claim 4 wherein a right gap portion is disposedbetween a distal end of the right side extender portion and the distalend of the right side arm portion when the right side extender portionis at least partially extended, and a left gap portion is disposedbetween a distal end of the left side extender portion and the distalend of the left side arm portion when the left side extender portion isat least partially extended, the right gap portion and the left gapportion adapted to keep garment straps from slipping off the arm pairassembly.
 6. The expandable garment hanger assembly of claim 1 wherein apolymer grip portion is planarly disposed on a top surface of the armpair assembly.
 7. The expandable garment hanger assembly of claim 1wherein a fabric grip portion is planarly disposed on the top surface ofthe arm pair assembly.
 8. The expandable garment hanger assembly ofclaim 1 wherein the central frame and housing assembly and the arm pairassembly are made substantially from one of a group of: wood, plastic,and aluminum.
 9. A method of using an expandable garment hangerassembly, the method comprising: at least partially inserting a centralframe and housing assembly in a folded state, with a right side armportion and a left side arm portion substantially parallel, into an openportion of a garment member, the right side arm portion and a left sidearm portion extending from a proximal end of the housing assembly andthrough the open portion of the garment member, a rotatable hook portionsubstantially outside the open portion of the garment member; depressinga release spring and lock assembly disposed within the central frame andhousing assembly and coupled to the proximal end of the right side armportion and the proximal end of the left side arm portion, the springand lock assembly adapted to be releasably locked when the arm pairassembly is in a closed state and unlocked when depressed; facilitatingthe right side arm portion and the left side arm portion simultaneouslyrotating in the opposite directions to a fully opened state within theopen portion of the garment member and against an inside surface of thegarment member; engaging the spring and lock assembly to hold extendedthe right side arm portion and the left side arm portion; and slidablycoupling as needed a right side arm extender portion slidably coupled toa distal end portion of the right side arm portion, and a left side armextender portion slidably coupled to a distal end portion of the leftside arm portion, the right side arm extender portion and the left sidearm extender portion adapted to be in an extended or retracted state.10. The method of using an expandable garment hanger assembly of claim9, the method further including suspending the central frame and housingassembly from a bar or other substantially rigid surface via a rotatablehook assembly coupled to the central frame and housing assembly.
 11. Themethod of using an expandable garment hanger assembly of claim 9, themethod further including engaging a second lock assembly disposed withinthe central frame and housing assembly and adapted to releasably lockthe arm pair assembly into an extended state.
 12. The method of using anexpandable garment hanger assembly of claim 9, the method furtherincluding sliding the right side extender portion disposed at leastpartially inside a right sleeve portion of the distal end of the rightside arm portion and sliding the left side extender portion disposed atleast partially inside a left sleeve portion of the distal end of theleft side arm portion.
 13. An expandable garment hanger assemblycomprising: a central frame and housing assembly having a rounded topend and a rounded bottom end; an arm pair assembly with a right side armportion and a left side arm portion pivotally coupled to an interiorportion of the central frame and housing assembly at a proximal endportion of the right side arm portion and a proximal end portion of theleft side arm portion, the arm pair assembly adapted to be in a foldedand substantially parallel state or a laterally extended state, a distalend of the right side arm and a distal end of the left side arm roundedand adapted to parallelly abut when the right and left arm assembliesare in a folded state, when abutted to form a substantially U shape,adapting the central frame and housing assembly to be packed withoutentangling adjacent garment members, wherein the right side arm portionand the left side arm portion rotatably engaged to move rotationally andsimultaneously; a release spring and lock assembly disposed within thecentral frame and housing assembly and coupled to the proximal end ofthe right side arm portion and the proximal end of the left side armportion, the spring and lock assembly adapted to be releasably lockedwhen the arm pair assembly is in a closed state; at least one roundedand depressible release assembly coupled to the spring and lock assemblyand disposed substantially through a distal face or a proximal face ofthe central frame and housing assembly, the depressible release assemblyadapted to release the spring and lock assembly, allowing a springassembly of the spring and lock assembly to laterally and simultaneouslyextend the right side arm portion and the left side arm portion; and aright side arm extender portion slidably coupled to a distal end portionof the right side arm portion, and a left side arm extender portionslidably coupled to a distal end portion of a left side arm portion, theright side arm extender portion and the left side arm extender portionadapted to be in an extended or retracted state and forming at an obtuseangle.
 14. The expandable garment hanger assembly of claim 13 wherein arotatable hook assembly is coupled to the central frame and housingassembly and adapted to suspend from a bar or other substantially rigidsurface.
 15. The expandable garment hanger assembly of claim 13 whereina second lock assembly is disposed within the central frame and housingassembly and adapted to releasably lock the arm pair assembly into anextended state.
 16. The expandable garment hanger assembly of claim 13wherein the right side extender portion is disposed at least partiallyinside a right sleeve portion of the distal end of the right side armportion and the left side extender portion is disposed at leastpartially inside a left sleeve portion of the distal end of the leftside arm portion and secured via a friction fit.
 17. The expandablegarment hanger assembly of claim 16 wherein a right gap portion isdisposed between a distal end of the right side extender portion and thedistal end of the right side arm portion when the right side extenderportion is at least partially extended, and a left gap portion isdisposed between a distal end of the left side extender portion and thedistal end of the left side arm portion when the left side extenderportion is at least partially extended, the right gap portion and theleft gap portion adapted to keep garment straps from slipping off thearm pair assembly.
 18. The expandable garment hanger assembly of claim13 wherein a polymer grip portion is planarly disposed on a top surfaceof the arm pair assembly.
 19. The expandable garment hanger assembly ofclaim 13 wherein a fabric grip portion is planarly disposed on the topsurface of the arm pair assembly.
 20. The expandable garment hangerassembly of claim 13 wherein the central frame and housing assembly aremade substantially from one of a group of: wood, plastic, and aluminum.